Fashion Photobombs Art History in Our New Favorite Instagram

By now, collaborations between fashion designers and contemporary artists feel about as staid as the idea of wearing sneakers with couture. But try to imagine an intersection of fashion and historical art, delivered via Instagram with a significant grain of salt, and the result might be @copylab.

Started by Georgetown University sophomore and Nasty Gal summer intern Chris Rellas less than two months ago, @copylab embellishes iconic art-historical images with trending designer accessories and logos and is, simply put, really well done. Vermeer’s circa 1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring, according to @copylab, is Girl with a Chanel Earring. In an amended propaganda image of Kim Jong-il trekking through the North Korean snow beside his cheering troops, the dictator wears last-season Prada. In @copylab’s twist on Delaroche’s 1840 depiction of Napoleon, defeated and about to abdicate for the first time, the emperor of France wears a Givenchy Rottweiler shirt. Is that just irony or a psychological reading? Though certainly the former, @copylab is, nonetheless, a lot of fun. It’s the kind of gimmick that makes you think, Why didn’t I think of that?

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“He broke the Hermes, gave it to his disciples and said…”

Original: The Last Supper by Juande JuanesAdded: Hermès wallet

Photo: Courtesy of Chris Rellas

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"Brow Down."

Original: Pavonia by Frederic LeightonAdded: Chanel jeweled eyebrows from F/W 2012-13 show. Each eyebrow created for the show had a base of grey sequins and pearls, which Peter Philips then embroidered green, pink, grey and purple mineral stones and crystals onto.